Nighttime Terror Series: Drowning
by HeyAssButtImBatman
Summary: It wasn't Bunny's intention to nearly drown the Guardian of Fun, and it certainly wasn't his intention to discover something about Jack that makes his Pooka blood boil with anger. But that's exactly what happened, and hopefully Bunny's up to the task of comforting his least favorite winter spirit.


Bunny had been very surprised when, after jumping out of one of his tunnels, he found Jack Frost skating across the surface of a small lake. He watched in fascination as the water froze into a thick layer of ice wherever Jack's feet landed.

He sat down at the edge of the lake, content to watch the moonlight glinting off of the rapidly freezing water. Just as Jack was about to finish, Bunny decided to have some fun.

Now, it wasn't a prank, although he and Jack do engage in quite a few prank wars. No, this was simply Bunny giving in to his childish side and trying to get a rise out of the fearless Jack Frost. So he stood, walked out onto the lake and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"OI, FROSTBITE!" he yelled, as loud as he could. Jack jumped a foot straight up in the air, causing Bunny to grin in mischievous pleasure. That grin fell off his face, however, when Jack dropped his staff and fell into the water.

Normally, Bunny was a very calm and collected person- er, Pooka. Especially when it came to crises (that one time with the dog in Jamie's house didn't count). But this time something was different. Maybe it was the way Jack scrabbled at the ice for a millisecond before plunging under, maybe it was the paralyzing fear he had seen on the boy's face, maybe it was the fact that Jack would be pissed if the Pooka didn't even try to help him, regardless of whether he needed it or not- but it was most likely the fact that Jack hadn't resurfaced yet.

Bunny ran to the middle of the lake as fast as he could, which was pretty damn fast, and didn't even hesitate in throwing himself into the cold water. Granted, it wasn't _as_ cold as it could have been, but that didn't stop him from shivering and almost releasing all of his air as soon as his head went under.

His green eyes searched frantically for any sign of Jack, but he couldn't see anything in the dark water. Luckily, he didn't have to be able to see. He could feel faint pressure shifts, something thrashing around in the water. He swam closer and was just barely able to see Jack's white hair shining in the faint moonlight.

Not wasting any time, Bunny grabbed the boy by his hood and kicked for the surface. His head broke the water with a gasp and he pulled Jack up beside him. As soon as his mouth had cleared the water, Jack began throwing up huge mouthfuls of water, coughing weakly when he was finished.

Bunny towed him to the edge of the ice, hauling them both up. He started shivering violently, though Jack wasn't bothered by the cold. After making sure that Jack was still conscious, he left him lying on the ice and walked a little farther away so he could shake the water from his fur.

Jack sat up and hugged his knees to his chest, shaking just as bad as Bunny had a minute ago. Bunny frowned and walked back over to the sprite.

"Jack, what's eatin' ya?" he asked, for surely it wasn't the icy temperature that was causing the boy to shiver. Jack took a huge gasp without lifting his head and let it back out in a shaky exhale. His shoulders shook slightly and Bunny's worry grew. Was Jack… crying?

Something was definitely up. He carefully scooped the spirit up and carried him back onto sturdy ground, his worry spiking even more when Jack didn't protest against the treatment, but buried his head into the Pooka's fur. When he had found a suitable place to sit, a small clearing in the forest surrounding the lake, he set Jack down and then sat down next to him.

"Jack, talk to me," he said. "What's up?"

Jack raised his head and Bunny could see a thin trail of ice running down his cheeks. _Tear tracks_ , he realised. Jack's eyes watered and his lower lip trembled and he looked up at Bunny with such a terrified look on his face that the older Guardian couldn't help but put an arm around Jack's thin shoulders.

"I-I almost drowned again," he said finally, voice sounding like he was holding back sobs. Bunny frowned and looked down again.

"What'ya mean, 'again'?" he asked. "Ya haven' drowned, Jack. Ya still alive."

"Because the Moon brought me back," came the quiet reply and Bunny froze. Jack had drowned? Died? No wonder he had reacted so strongly when he had fallen into the lake, because the Pooka knew for a fact that Jack could swim and that he had never shown any fear of water before. At least, not that Bunny had seen

Jack was still trembling and Bunny pulled him closer, until they were sitting with their backs pressed up against the tree and their sides pressed together. Bunny wrapped his arms around Jack, letting him lean his wet head against Bunny's chest.

"It's alrigh', Jack," he found himself saying. "I won't let anything happen to ya, I promise. There's no reason ta be scared, ya safe with me."

Slowly, Jack's trembling stopped. He was still pressed against the Pooka, but he also had a death grip on Bunny's fur and the Guardian of Hope wasn't about to force him to let go.

"Thanks, Bunny," Jack mumbled, voice very quiet. Bunny looked down and saw that Jack's eyes had half shut and his whole body had gone relaxed.

"No problem, Snowflake," he said softly. "Go ta sleep, Jack. You're exhausted."

Jack nodded and let his eyes slip shut all the way, and eventually his deep breathing told Bunny that he had fallen asleep. The Pooka sat there for a good hour until he was sure that Jack wasn't going to wake up, then lifted him up and opened one of his tunnels. As gently as he could, he jumped in and started for Santoff Clausen.

North, Tooth and Sandy would want to know about Jack's phobia. _A phobia with good cause,_ he reminded himself. He grimaced when he thought of what he was about to tell the Guardians. North would be furious and he was sure Poor Tooth would be devastated that Jack had died so young, if she hadn't known already, what with her being the Guardian of Memories and all. Sandy'd probably be just as sad as Tooth and as angry as North.

And where would Jack be? Asleep in his room at the North Pole, leaving Bunny to be questioned by the other Guardians.

His face softened when he looked down at the boy in his arms. A small smile was on Jack's lips and he murmured something unintelligible, snuggling closer into Bunny's fur. The Pooka smiled fondly and quickened his pace without disturbing Jack.

He'd never had a little brother before, but now that he did have one, he'd never let anything happen to him again.


End file.
